The works of Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and W. H. Auden, “The Unknown Citizen” highlight that rebellion against the norms in society come along with high costs involved. Rebellion generally concerns deviation from what is generally and commonly acceptable as a standard in society. As such, if people fail to follow the accepted regulations in the society, then havoc will become the order of activities and proceedings that take place in the society. These two works share distinct themes among the prominent being rebellion. As a theme in these two works, rebellion is viewed from the perspective of how it affects the society if it occurs with regard to the norms adopted in the society. Therefore, it this study, we address the similarities between the two works indicated here above with regard to how they address the theme of rebellion in as far as it related to norms in society.
Ursula LeGuin says that rebellion against the norms breeds instability in society in many significant ways, which affect the people in the society quite adversely. She indicates that a reverse mechanism is necessary in order to ensure that the effect of the rebellion depicted by members of the society is increasingly mitigated. People should not assume blindness towards things, which direct have significant influence and impact on them. Auden similarly observes that norms are fundamental aspects of the society and if not properly adhered to and keenly followed, then the repercussions are great. He also indicates that in order to ensure smooth operations in society, every members should play the appropriate role to ensure that they all adhere to the norms of the society. These works therefore present the importance of adopting themes and following them as appropriate in order to ensure that there is harmony in society.
Auden points out that once rebellion against norms is established, it will be difficult and highly costly restoring the norms so that all members of the society accept them. This is because many processed will have to be followed in order to ensure that stability is regained and that people do not transgress the norms any longer. Ursula observes that rebellion against norms is likely to bring about cases like for instance violence in society. A great havoc exists once there is violence in society as there is no security due to lack of order. As such, people in the society suffer the consequences of this rebellion for considerably long if appropriate measures are not urgently taken to normalize the situation. This theme is important in these works as it gives the readers of the works an opportunity to understand the consequences of rebelling against the norms and other necessary virtues, which promote peaceful co-existence in society.
These pieces of work note that rebellion is indeed a vice if it is done for the wrong reasons and purpose. This clearly indicates that there are positive reasons and purposes for which people can carry on rebellion. However, certain others demean the essence of these practices, as the reasons may be to propagate inconsistence that results to society degradation. Ursula indicates that rebellion should be carried out only for effective and more constructive reasons, which result to the benefit of all members of the society. As such, rebellion, which will only suit particular members who are self-centered, should not be tolerated in society. Auden has similar observations by noting that rebellion against norms is not for the benefit of the society as long as the norms propagate ethical considerations and practices in society. Norms are normally positive values, which ensure that the society exists cohesively without cases that may demean harmonious and peaceful co-existence. Citizens, who are considered as the members of the society should therefore not walk away from the Omelas, which are considered as positive values in society.
The two works point out that society entails all the aspects of its existence. As such, people should comply with what is generally and commonly acceptable in order to avoid committing things that only crush the society and leave it in a poor position so that it cannot reflect on its roots. Reflecting on its roots enables a society to understand the core things that should prevail and those which should be left out in order to foster the wellbeing of all the people within its confines. Auden observes that the members of the society who are responsible for the rebellions witnessed against norms suffer the consequences so that they may learn the importance of implementing and following the norms as desirably as possible. This clearly relates with what Ursula note. She indicates that to recover from the effects of rebellion against norms, people have to have hard experiences since they may not have completely healed from these effects. As such, it is important to understand the extent of the effects that comes because of rebelling against the norms. Evidently, based on the arguments brought forth by authors of these pieces of work, it is evident that rebelling against norms entails a very high social cost which all the members of the society are bound to experience.
